


Pirate Captain

by nightshade002



Series: Pirate Captain Witch Oikawa [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pirate, M/M, Pirates and Magic and Curses oh my!, also matsukawa's temporarily an otter, i don't know nearly enough about ships and sailing, not like forever an otter, oh and matsukawa's an otter, oikawa has magic, side daisuga, to write this many fics about ships and sailing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-01-10 21:01:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12307731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightshade002/pseuds/nightshade002
Summary: “Took you long enough to catch up, Dai-chan,” Oikawa said calmly, as though his ship wasn’t being boarded by some of the best sailors on the ocean.Daichi rested his finger on the trigger of his gun. “It’s over. You’re completely outnumbered. What even happened to your crew? Did they decide they didn’t want to be pirates anymore?”“Now, now, Dai-chan,” Oikawa’s voice was dangerously sweet as he leaned over the table in his cabin, “Just because you decided to betray me doesn’t mean everyone will. And if you even think that my crew stooped so low as to abandon me, you won’t survive long enough to see me get turned in.”





	1. Caught at sea

**Author's Note:**

> I was a fool to think that I would be willing to wait until i finished one of my other fics before starting to post this one. also title is subject to change because honestly all i really want to call this is pirate captain witch oikawa but i want a better title than that

“Took you long enough to catch up, Dai-chan,” Oikawa said calmly, as though his ship wasn’t being boarded by some of the best sailors on the ocean.

Daichi rested his finger on the trigger of his gun. “It’s over. You’re completely outnumbered. What even happened to your crew? Did they decide they didn’t want to be pirates anymore?”

“Now, now, Dai-chan,” Oikawa’s voice was dangerously sweet as he leaned over the table in his cabin, “Just because you decided to betray me doesn’t mean everyone will. And if you even think that my crew stooped so low as to abandon me, you won’t survive long enough to see me get turned in.”

“You wouldn’t make it out of this room before my men took you out,” Daichi countered. “Are you sure you’re in a position to be making threats?”

“I’m fully prepared to surrender, but if you insult my crew, I won’t let it slide.”

“Surrender then.”

Oikawa smiled. “Come on, Dai-chan, you know me better than that. I’ve got some conditions before I’ll go quietly, but I’m sure you won’t find them hard to meet.”

Daichi sighed. “Before I say yes to anything, what are they?”

“Number 1,” Oikawa held up a finger, “Mattsun comes with.”

“Mattsun like Matsukawa? Your first mate?” Daichi asked. “But there’s no one on this ship but my men and me and you.”

“Mattsun like my otter,” Oikawa corrected. “He’s sleeping in here somewhere.”

“Fine, he can come with,” Daichi sighed. “What else?”

“When we leave my ship, I will be the last one off. Tie my hands, whatever, but I’m the last one to leave. And before that, all ammo or weapons on this ship will either be taken onto your ship or thrown in the ocean. My last request,” Oikawa slid an envelope across the table, “I had to write down. Don’t read it out loud.”

Daichi glanced down at the envelope, unsure if it was some sort of trap to catch him off guard.

“You said so yourself, I wouldn’t make it out of this room if I tried to kill you.”

He tucked his gun away and picked up the envelope. His eyes widened as he read. “You want me to--”

Oikawa leaned over the table and pressed his hand against his mouth. “I want you to not read it out loud.”

He folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. Oikawa slowly removed his hand from Daichi’s mouth. “Those are your conditions?”

“As I said, I’m sure you won’t find them hard to meet. I will go quietly so long as you honor each of them. Promise.”

“Very well. I accept your conditions in exchange for you coming quietly.”

“I’d like to keep my hat, too.”

Daichi rolled his eyes. “Fine. Will that be all?”

“That should do it.” Oikawa walked around the table to shake hands with Daichi.

“Good. And stop calling me Dai-chan. It’s Captain Sawamura to you.”

“Ooh, you’ve actually got an authoritative aura now, Dai-chan,” Oikawa hummed.

“That’s rich coming from a captain with no crew,” Daichi muttered. He barely got the words out before Oikawa’s fist collided with his face. He brought his hand up but was interrupted by Oikawa grabbing the front of his shirt. He was pulled up until his toes were just barely touching the floor. The look on Oikawa’s face almost made him want to shrink away and give up the ridiculous mission of bringing Oikawa in, but he held his gaze.

“Don’t ever talk about my crew,” Oikawa growled. Daichi could practically see a dark aura around him. “Each one of them is more of a man than your crew combined.”

The door slammed open and Oikawa dropped Daichi. He stumbled, but remained on his feet. “Captain, are you alright?” the first of the two men that walked in asked.

“Honestly, Dai-chan, either you underestimate me or you overestimate your men,” Oikawa said, completely ignoring the two newcomers. “They wouldn’t be able to keep me from leaving this room if I chose to kill you.”

Daichi clenched his jaw. “Perhaps you underestimate them.”

Oikawa leaned forward so he was in Daichi’s face. “Perhaps if you don’t like me talking shit about your crew, you shouldn’t talk shit about mine who you know nothing about.”

“You don’t know anything about my crew either.”

Oikawa smirked and leaned back. “Who says I know nothing? I know everything that happens on my ship. For instance, you sent the short one, Hinata I think, and what is it, Kageyama, down to check on the weapons but instead they got distracted and are sparring. Hinata’s pretty quick, but he has almost no technique.”

The two that had walked in narrowed their eyes. “How did you know their names?”

“Same way I know yours, Suga.”

“You can call me Sugawara and nothing else.”

Oikawa rolled his eyes. “You’re so mean to me,” he whined. “I’m even being nice and everything. If I wanted, you’d all be dead by now.”

“Whatever makes you feel better, Oikawa,” Daichi sighed. “Just wait in here while I take care of your requests. Suga, stay with him. Ennoshita come with me.”

“You’re seriously granting him requests, Captain?” Suga asked incredulously. Daichi nodded before leaving with Ennoshita. Oikawa and Suga stared at each other in silence for a while. “How did you really know my name?”

“What kind of captain would I be if I didn’t know everything that happens on my ship?” Oikawa responded, enjoying how the answer frustrated the other.

“So what happened to your crew?” Suga asked after another few minutes of silence. “And how did you get this far into the ocean without a crew?”

“I like to think I’m just talented enough to get all the way out here.” Suga was about to respond when Oikawa grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room. He whistled and an otter ran out of one of the corners and hopped onto his shoulder. “I know I’m supposed to stay in there, but trust me, you’re gonna want me where we’re going.”

Suga let himself be dragged along, even though he knew he was fully capable of breaking free of the hold. There was just something about Oikawa’s voice that seemed almost sincere. He was dragged down stairs and around a few corners before they stopped in front of a door. Oikawa barely hesitated in opening the door and barging in. Suga followed quickly after to find Hinata sitting on the floor, Kageyama hovering over him, with a cloth pressed to his arm.

“Out of my way,” Oikawa made shooing motions at Kageyama. He knelt next to Hinata and gently pulled the now red cloth away. He grimaced looking at the wound. “Sword?”

Hinata nodded. Suga was almost concerned at how quiet he was being.

“This is why you shouldn’t play with weapons you don’t know how to wield properly,” Oikawa sighed. He pulled off his gloves and placed his fingertips just above where the blood was. After muttering a few words that Suga couldn’t hear, he pulled his hand away as the cut started to close.

“You’re a medic?” Suga asked.

“No,” Oikawa replied airily, “Not anymore. I was a medic, though. Pretty important, too. I was the royal medic.” He stood up and grabbed his gloves, heading for the door. “Come on, Dai-chan won’t be happy if he gets back and we’re gone.”

“Don’t call him that,” he growled.

“It’s his name,” Oikawa said simply while he put his gloves back on. “Am I supposed to call him something other than his name?”

“His name isn’t ‘Dai-chan,’” Suga corrected. “It’s Daichi. Sawamura to you, actually.”

“Not while we’re on my ship. Once we’re on his ship, it’ll be Captain Sawamura all the way, but on my ship, I’ll call people whatever I want.”

“How did someone as whiny and immature as you become one of, if not the, most wanted pirates?” Suga asked. 

In the next second, Oikawa was behind him, holding a gun to his head with his arms pinned securely to his back. “Does this give you some sort of idea?” Suga nodded and Oikawa moved away from him, holding the gun out to him handle first. Suga wasn’t entirely sure why at first, but then he realized it was his own gun. A quick check of his own now empty holster confirmed it. “I’m disappointed you haven’t heard of my many escapades.”

“I’ve heard of them,” Suga said taking back his gun, “They just seem a little unrealistic from the all of you.”

Oikawa laughed. “That is kinda the point, you know.”

“Okawa,” Daichi called out to them from down the hall. “I’ve taken care of your first two requests. Everyone but us is off the ship.”

“Ah, then I suppose it’s time to say goodbye to my ship,” Oikawa sighed. He took off one of his gloves, closed his eyes, and placed his hand onto the wall. He stayed motionless for a few seconds before opening his eyes again. “Shall we?”

Daichi led the way off the ship, followed by Suga and then Oikawa with Mattsun draped over his shoulders. As they emerged from below deck, Oikawa took a deep breath and looked around at the expanse of ocean stretching out endlessly in every direction. He brought his hands forward and allowed Daichi to cuff him before they walked to the board connecting Oikawa’s ship and Daichi’s. Suga and Daichi stepped onto it first, then Daichi turned around to make sure Oikawa didn’t try anything.

Daichi honestly was not prepared for the ship to come to life with ropes flying everywhere.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha guess who's trying to update everything by halloween (it was gonna be all on halloween but i get super impatient about posting things lol)
> 
> also because i completely forgot to mention this when i posted it, this is based on a dream i had (twice in one night)

“You remember my third request?” Daichi nodded. “You need to do it now.”

Daichi turned around and signaled Hinata. There was a loud bang and Oikawa stumbled as the ship tilted. Daichi nearly fell off the board, but somehow managed to keep his footing. He grabbed the chain between the cuffs on Oikawa’s hands and pulled him up. One rope came up to snake around Oikawa’s ankle, but Oikawa slipped one hand out of the cuffs and stole Daichi’s knife to cut it. They made it safely to Daichi’s ship just as the second cannon went off and Oikawa stumbled once more boarding the ship.

“What the fuck was that?” Daichi demanded. “Honestly, what the fuck?”

“Oh, my ship was cursed. Did I forget to mention that?” Oikawa asked, smiling sweetly. “Truly, I’m sorry. Must have just… slipped my mind somehow.”

“How did you even end up with a cursed ship?”

“What can I say? I’m good at pissing people off. And at least I had you prepared to deal with my ship. You would have had a hell of a time trying to get me off her if she still had her weapons and you weren’t prepared with your cannons.”

Daichi sighed. “Suga, set a course for _away from here_. I don’t care where, just not here.”

“On it,” Suga said and hurried away to get them ready to leave.

“Hinata, Kageyama, blow a few more holes in that ship before we leave.”

“Right,” they both responded at the same time.

“The rest of you know what to do, so get to it!” Daichi yelled. He turned back to Oikawa. “Is there anything _else_ you conveniently forgot?”

“Mm, not that I can remember right now, _Captain_.”

“If you’re going to say that with a weird voice, then don’t even bother calling me Captain at all.”

“Captain!” Tanaka yelled from the stern. “We have a problem.”

“What is it now?”

“I don’t think the ship wants us to leave. It latched itself onto us. The ropes are moving by themselves and tieing to the stern. His ship’s bigger so if it goes down, it’s going to pull us with it.”

“Captain Dai-chan, do you have anyone on your ship with fire magic?” Oikawa asked, inserting himself into the conversation.

“Oikawa,” Daichi growled in warning. Oikawa held his hands up in mock surrender. “Don’t you have fire magic?”

“Yes, but my magic won’t affect my ship. It’s gotta be someone else otherwise we’re royally fucked.”

“Fine.” He turned back to Tanaka. “Get Yachi from below deck. Tell her we need her up here.”

“On it,” he replied, already on the move.

“Let me borrow a sword.” Daichi stared at Oikawa, who sighed. “I'm clearly outnumbered here, if I tried to pick a fight now, all it would do is allow my ship to sink yours. We'd all die and I obviously don't want that. I wouldn't have gone through so much trouble if I was just going to die here. Not that I'm certain I'll live through this anyway, but still. I'm a pirate, not a murderer. You should know that better than anyone here.”

Daichi grabbed his sleeve and pulled him close to whisper in his ear. “ _Don't_ tell anyone anything. Understand?”

“Of course I do.”

“Good. It's not like anyone would believe you anyway.”

“Then why were you so worried?” Oikawa shot back. “If they wouldn’t believe me, why make sure I don’t tell them?”

“You _will not_ tell them about our history. Or even hint about it.”

“Fine, fine. My lips are sealed,” Oikawa sighed. “Now give me a sword and let me help save your ship from mine.” Daichi wordlessly unsheathed one of his swords and handed it to Oikawa. “Thank you. Send Yachi to me as soon as you find her. Other than that, your crew can help out by either staying out of my way or by cutting the ropes. Your decision.”

Oikawa didn’t wait to hear what Daichi said about that, already dashing to the stern. If he was honest, he didn’t _really_ know that this would happen. All he really knew was that he was supposed to be bound to his ship. He knew (now for sure) that any damage to her affected him, too, from the short bursts of pain that accompanied each sound of the cannon. He knew she wouldn’t let him leave, but he found a way around that. He knew she siphoned off some of his magic, a little bit at a time, in order to keep him there. He knew that if he ever tried to leave before, he would be tied up and forced to stay in his cabin for a few days before the ship would let him out again. But he didn’t know that the ship could come to life without his presence. He had just planned to sink her and be done with it.

He immediately got to work cutting the ropes that had wound themselves around Daichi’s ship. A few of Daichi’s crew members joined him, but there were too many ropes and they were tying themselves down faster than they could cut them. Worse, some of the ropes were aiming at him, fully intending on bringing him down with the ship.

“O-Oikawa-san,” he heard a small voice from behind him nearly whimper. He turned around and found a girl not even tall enough to reach his shoulders.

“You must be Yachi-san, right?” She nodded, trembling. “You’ve got fire magic?” Another nod. “Well,” he gestured to his ship, “point and shoot. Anything you can do will be a big help. The ropes are the most prominent target for now, but if you strike the ship directly, the fire will spread more. Can you do that?”

“Yes, sir!” she replied, dropping down into an almost-fight stance. Oikawa laughed.

“Right now, I should be answering to you, you know that, right? You’re supposed to have the power here.” She opened her mouth to respond, but Oikawa cut her off. “It doesn’t matter now, we should focus.”

“Right.”

Oikawa took a few steps away from her when he knew she would actually be using magic. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Daichi’s choice of crew. Far from it, actually, regardless of what he said earlier, he knew that Daichi wouldn’t take anyone but the best. Rather, Yachi seemed so _young_ that he wasn’t entirely sure how stable her magic was. 

The first blast was impressive, to say the least. Yachi proved to be better than Oikawa’s expectations. She was both accurate and _powerful_. The problem was when it eventually got to the ship. The cannon shots had been painful, but short and bearable. Fire was an entirely different feeling. He nearly gasped from the pain before catching himself. He wouldn’t show weakness now. Not when his ship was still such a danger to him. Which, speaking of, was still sending more and more ropes and they were all concentrated towards him. 

He went back to slashing at the ropes, but he was slower than he should have been, which allowed one to coil tightly around his right forearm. The sword fell from his hand as the rope squeezed tighter and tighter, pulling him toward the edge of the ship. He tried to stand firm, but there was nothing for him to grab onto. He felt Matsukawa shift around on his shoulders, but he held his left hand up.

“Mattsun, don’t,” he ground out, “I don’t want any of the ropes to get you.”

Matsukawa made a noise in his ear that sounded similar to whistling.

“I _know_ that I’m in danger, I don’t need you to tell me.” There was more of the whistling noise from Matsukawa. “If you want to help, why don’t you go pick up the sword for me?”

Matsukawa huffed in his ear and leapt down. It took him a while to get the sword up to Oikawa’s left hand and in that time, the rope had moved so it was around Oikawa’s entire arm and was pulling harder than before. Oikawa was far enough forward that he could brace himself against the ship, but if he was pulled any farther, he would fall overboard. Once he finally had the sword in hand again, he cut the rope and fell backward.

His arm was absolutely _throbbing_. He didn’t waste any time in pulling off his glove with his teeth and starting to heal his arm. There wasn’t time to stop and grimace at the marks on his arm.

“Oikawa-san, are you alright?” Yachi asked worriedly from above him.

“I’ll be fine, just focus on what you’re doing. I can heal myself,” he growled. It came out meaner than he had intended, but he was in so much pain that he couldn’t be bothered to make sure he sounded _nice_. The pain kept increasing relentlessly. His vision started to swim and he distantly felt Matsukawa nudge his hand before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub or @nightshade002  
> i'm also part of @thewritersquad on tumblr
> 
> feel free to check any of those blogs out!


	3. A bit of history

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how much of oikawa's and daichi's backstory will i actually reveal? who knows. not me
> 
> ft. oikawa and yachi bonding over medic stuff

Oikawa groaned, rolling over onto his side to cough. There was a weight around his wrists, chains most likely. It wasn’t like he was much of a threat in his current condition, but the chains made sense. What didn’t make sense was why he could barely see when he opened his eyes. Trying to heal them just gave him a headache.

“So you’re actually alive,” Daichi said, far too loud.

He looked in what he hoped was the right direction and frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Yachi said your heart stopped beating for a while. Right after your ship sank.”

Oikawa nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Care to fill me in?”

“Not really,” Oikawa said, closing his eyes.

“Oikawa!” Daichi snapped. “Yachi saved your life and you can’t even tell me why it needed saving in the first place?”

“Fine,” Oikawa pushed himself upright, “the ship was cursed. Or maybe I was. I don’t know anymore. I wasn’t allowed to leave her, so I did what I needed to in order to trick her. My plan didn’t go as expected, hence the part where she attacked your ship.”

“So that was like a prison to you?”

He nodded, leaning his head back on the wall. “I was bound to her. That had some benefits, like how I could sense everything happening in every part of her, but I couldn’t leave and I couldn’t attack her. I’m pretty sure it’s similar to how I can’t burn myself with my own fire. I couldn’t burn her with my magic because part of the curse involved _my magic_ animating her. I guess that also meant that when she was attacked, it hurt me too. So that’s probably why I died. Temporarily.”

“Funny how you became a pirate for freedom and yet that’s exactly what took yours away,” Daichi remarked dryly.

“You don’t know the whole story,” Oikawa hummed. “Speaking of, why did you go through the trouble of bringing me back to life? I’m on my way to the gallows anyway, aren’t I?”

Daichi sighed. “My orders were to bring you alive. They probably want to make an… example out of you.”

“Mm, pity they won’t be doing that, then,” Oikawa smirked. “If the only way you could catch me was because I let you, how would they be able to keep me against my will?”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Why? Because you don’t actually want me to die?” Daichi huffed and Oikawa’s smirk widened. “That’s what I thought. Don’t worry, _love_ , I have no intent to.”

“I thought we agreed-”

“I’m just an affectionate person, _dear_. If I use pet names for everyone, there’s no problem, right? Unless you want to assume I have a history with everyone on your ship.”

“You-”

“By the way, can you get Yachi-san when you have the time? If she’s not too busy, of course. I’m having a… bit of trouble seeing.”

“Yes, I can get her for you. Stay here.”

“It's not like I could see where I'm going anyway,” Oikawa muttered.

He wasn’t sure how long it took for Daichi to come back with Yachi, but it didn’t feel like very long before he heard footsteps approaching. He opened his eyes before remembering exactly why he needed Yachi.

“You know you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, right?” Daichi said, presumably to Yachi.

“I-I know, Captain, I just want to make sure he’s okay. It’s probably my fault, anyway.”

“Oh, don’t say that, your magic is strong. With enough practice, you’ll definitely be stronger than me some day,” Oikawa said, interrupting Daichi’s response. “I could guarantee that whatever is wrong with me is some sort of weird side effect of dying.”

“R-right. I’m going to do a full check, if that’s alright with you, Oikawa-san.” Oikawa nodded and shifted to lay down again. Yachi’s hand was cool on his forehead and he relaxed as her magic flowed through him. “Your magic is blocked. It might have something to do with the curse, but I don’t know why you can’t see.”

“It might have been somewhere the ship was hit?” Oikawa suggested.

“No, that’s not it. Maybe the curse amplified places you had problems with before?”

Oikawa shook his head. “It wouldn’t just be my eyes then.”

“Something about who cursed you?”

“I can’t think of a connection.”

“Strange. Maybe it’ll clear up now that you’re awake?”

“Delayed reaction, you mean?”

“Yes, that’s it! Delayed reaction.”

“Well, thank you, Yachi-san.”

“Ah, y-you’re welcome, Oikawa-san. I can come back later today if you’d like to make sure you’re okay.”

“I think I’ll be fine. I’m alive again, after all. It can really only get better from here.” He blinked a few times. “My eyes are already getting better.”

“R-right.”

“Yachi, could I talk to Oikawa alone?” Daichi cut in.

“O-oh of-of course Captain.” 

Oikawa heard Yachi practically run out the door. Daichi sighed. “I don’t know what you did that she can actually _talk_ to you, but honestly I’d appreciate it if you shared with the rest of us.”

“How old even is she?”

Daichi sighed again. “Sixteen.”

“No wonder she’s afraid of most of you!” Oikawa nearly yelled. He knew she was young, but still a child? That was ridiculous. “How could you bring _anyone_ that young on a quest like this? Who’s bright idea was that? Do her parents even know?”

“You know who’s idea it was. It’s not like I can argue when people get appointed to my crew. Not really.”

The corner of Oikawa’s mouth twitched and he fought to keep down his smirk. “Never really had to deal with that problem, you know. There’s a real easy solution to it.”

“I’m not coming back to you. Ever.”

“I wouldn’t want a traitor back anyway. There’s no room for you in my crew. Not after what you did,” Oikawa spat. It was still a touchy subject for him, as much as he pretended not to be affected by what happened. “You bring up the past a lot for someone who doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“I did what I had to, you know that,” Daichi growled back. “You even said you understood.”

“Don’t have to like something to understand it,” Oikawa replied smoothly. “I understand that your life was threatened. I also understand a certain someone promised to save you _no matter what_.”

“Oikawa, stop-”

“I understand you managed to forget about that and only think about yourself. You’re more cut out to be a pirate that I.”

“Oikawa-”

“After all,” he continued, more worked up than he would have liked to admit, “ _I’ve_ never betrayed a lover.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub or @nightshade002  
> I'm also part of @thewritersquad on tumblr
> 
> feel free to come and yell at like any of them


	4. Mischief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _two updates_?? in one month?? on the same fic?? who am i

Daichi had left him alone after that, which Oikawa was grateful for. He really needed to calm himself down before he said something he truly regretted. He hadn’t thought the wound was still so _fresh_ for him. But, he supposed, being away from Daichi was much easier than confronting the betrayal in person. Still, he thought he had more control over himself than that. It must be the stress of the curses. Well, just one curse to take care of now that his ship was gone and he was still alive.

He sighed, rubbing his hand along the faint scars left by the rope. His vision was finally coming back, little by little. He could faintly make out two figures standing near the door and the bars of the cell he had been put in. Honestly, the fact that Daichi thought something like _iron bars_ could hold him was laughable. He _knew_ it would take more than that to keep him. Just because they were in the middle of the ocean didn’t mean Oikawa didn’t know how to make trouble.

He had thought Mattsun just wasn’t in contact with him, but was still in the cell with him. A quick glance around after his vision had finally completely returned proved him wrong. His gaze flickered up towards his guards. They were attentive, but he was nearly certain they didn’t know what to expect from him. His mouth twitched up into a smile. A plan was already forming in his mind, but first…

His left glove was on his lap and he pulled it almost all the way on, leaving the heel of his hand visible to only himself and positioned himself so his guards couldn’t see what he was doing. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Nonverbal magic was more difficult, but in this case it was essential. He opened his eyes again to find that his hand was transparent. His smile grew. There was no bad reaction to using magic.

He looked around for something to topple over, settling on a few buckets. They’d make enough of a noise for a distraction. He stood up on the pretense of stretching to get himself closer to the door. As soon as he heard the clatter from the buckets and his guards looked towards the source of the noise, he made himself invisible and then unlocked the cell door.

\----

“You’re being too soft on him. Granting him requests, really?” Suga lectured. “Why?”

Daichi sighed. He knew this discussion was coming sooner or later, he had just hoped it would be later. “Look-”

“And _don’t_ give me some bullshit answer. I want to know.”

“It’s not that I’m trying to be soft, it’s just… he saved my life once-” _More than just once._ “-and now I’m basically ending his. I guess I might subconsciously be going easier on him than I usually would.”

“I knew you knew him, or I assumed, but he really saved your life? He doesn’t seem the type.”

Daichi wanted to laugh at the inaccuracy. “He likes to manipulate people’s emotions in a way that benefits only himself. He puts on whatever face that he thinks will help him.” _But he would still go out of his way to help someone in need._

“How do you know so much about him?”

Daichi dragged his hand down his face. “He was… my captain.” _Among other things._

“Your what? Daichi you-”

“I know, I know, okay? But the thing is… he’s really convincing when he wants to be and I was younger and his ideals were appealing. But-” _I’m not like that anymore, really. I was once, and it wasn’t just his ideals that were appealing, and it wasn’t just him being convincing. I believed in it all. I still believe in some of it._

“You were a pirate.” There was no question in his voice, only an accusatory tone to match his expression.

“Yes,” Daichi answered simply. He wouldn’t try to skirt around it now that he had put it out in the open.

“Does anyone else know?”

“Only Ukai and Oikawa’s crew but they’re who knows where. But if they haven’t told anyone yet, they’re not going to.” _Not to mention, they were all loyal. Oikawa may have seemed bitter earlier, but had he wanted to condemn me for piracy, he would have already, his crew to back him up. In fact, I would be surprised if he didn’t specifically order some to not tell._

“I’m sure you don’t need me to say this, but you can’t tell anyone else.”

“You mean you’re okay with me having been a pirate?” _Would you still be okay if I said I miss it sometimes?_

“Believe me, I have a bunch of questions before I’ll be satisfied, and you know how I feel about pirates, but what’s past is past.”

Daichi visibly sagged with relief. “At this point, I think if anyone accuses me of piracy people will only laugh.”

Suga finally smiled. “Probably. So about my questions.”

The door slammed open to reveal an out of breath Tanaka with Nishinoya nearly slamming into him before coming to a stop. “Sorry to interrupt!”

“It’s fine, what is it?”

“Well, uh… we sorta can’t find Oikawa.”

“Weren’t you two supposed to be watching him?” Suga chided. “What happened?”

“Well there was a noise and both of us turned to look, but when we turned back, he was gone,” Nishinoya explained. “So then Tanaka looked everywhere on the ship and I stayed, just in case he was waiting for us to leave, and we can’t find him anywhere.”

“Everyone else helped look too,” Tanaka added.

Daichi sighed. “We’re in the middle of the ocean, he can only survive on this ship, so he has to be somewhere.”

“We know, but-”

“I’ll find him, don’t worry about it.”

“How do you plan on doing that?” Suga asked.

“There’s three places Oikawa’d be right now. Doing something dangerous off the side of the ship, which wouldn’t usually be likely seeing as his arm literally just healed, but Oikawa likes to do the unlikely. Looking for Mattsun because I just have a feeling that Oikawa’s not telling me everything about him-”

“What’s there to tell about an otter?”

“More than you might expect. Third place is with Yachi which is conveniently where Mattsun is. So really only two places. I’ll check with Yachi, you guys can search the sides of the ship.”

“Right!” Nishinoya and Tanaka ran off to follow his orders.

“I’ll stay with you, Captain. Provided that’s alright with you?”

Daichi nodded. He had really hoped Suga wouldn’t. “Of course.”

“Afterall, he’s with Yachi, isn’t he?”

“If my guesses are correct, yes. He is.”

“C-captain! Sugawara-san! What are you doing here?” Yachi nearly yelled when they walked in. 

Suga immediately focused on the open cage on her table. “What happened to the otter?”

“H-he... he got out,” she bowed deeply, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright, Yachi. We came in to ask if you had seen Oikawa.”

Her eyes darted to the corner before she looked back at Daichi. “I haven’t seen him.” She glanced back at the corner.

Daichi sighed. “I know he seems nice, but-”

“He wouldn’t hurt me,” Yachi said firmly.

“There’s no way to know that,” Suga replied quickly.

“He used to be the royal medic, before my mother. I know he wouldn’t. Medics have an unwritten code and he wouldn’t break it, regardless of if he’s a pirate or not.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“Yachi,” Daichi interrupted. She turned her attention to him. “Where is he now?”

“I… w-what are you t-talking about?”

“You talk more confidently around him, so where is he?”

“Looks like you found me out,” Oikawa hummed. Daichi and Suga whirled around to find Oikawa standing in the corner Yachi had been glancing at. “I’m surprised it took you so long, honestly. Really I just wanted to find Mattsun and talk with Yachi-san a bit.” He was holding the otter in his arms and it nipped at his fingers. “And I just _really_ didn’t feel like staying in the brig for this whole trip. It’s too stuffy. We’re, what, a week away from land? Minimum. What am I gonna do, steal a rowboat and row for at least twice that long?”

“You-”

“Even you know I wouldn’t bother with that. If I were going to make an escape attempt, I would wait until we were closer to land. I’m not going to, not from you, but still. If I were. That’s what I would do.” The otter in his arms started chattering and Oikawa shushed him. “We’ve talked about this, Mattsun, hush.” There was more chattering. “Okay, right now really isn’t the time for this.”

“Can you actually understand him?” Suga asked.

“I’ll go back in the brig if you _absolutely_ insist,” Oikawa said, completely ignoring Suga. Daichi could tell he was pissed, but he wasn’t about to pass up Oikawa’s offer to go back.

“I do insist.”

“I’ll watch him this time,” Suga said, crossing his arms and glaring at Oikawa. “To make sure he doesn’t pull anything else.”

Daichi sighed, dragging his hand down his face. He wasn’t sure which one of them he was addressing when he spoke. “Don’t-”

He didn’t need to look up to see Oikawa’s smile. “Challenge accepted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr [here](nightshade002.tumblr.com), [here](theprettysettersclub.tumblr.com), or [here with writing friends](thewritersquad.tumblr.com)


	5. Past Mistakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long omg, but i'm finally here with another chapter!

“Just let me know when it’s too much for you, honey,” Oikawa said sweetly.

Suga glared at him. “Don’t call me that,” he growled, keeping his hands clasped firmly over his ears. “And quit with whatever sound that is.”

Oikawa shrugged dispassionately. “You protested to love and sweetheart and sweetie and-”

“Just call me Sugawara.”

“But where’s the _fun_ in that,” Oikawa smiled. “It’s much more entertaining for me to give you nicknames that you hate.”

“Does the Captain hate his nickname?” he asked and Oikawa detected just a hint of bitterness in his tone. He smiled wide.

“Is that jealousy I hear?” Oikawa asked, finally stopping the annoying noise. “Or are you perhaps irritated with Dai-chan for keeping things from you?”

“What do you mean by that?” Suga asked, taking a step closer to the little cell he was in. 

“Well, the rest of the crew did a pretty thorough search of the ship for me before Tanaka and Nishinoya finally went to Dai-chan. I may have happened to walk by and listen in on a little before going to find Mattsun. Can’t imagine what it must have felt like to learn he’d kept secrets from you,” Oikawa said smoothly. He could, actually. He knew just how much it hurt, too. Well, he perhaps knew _more_ about how it hurts. “What all did he tell you?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“I’m just curious,” he hummed. “Don’t tell me if you don’t want; I don’t care. Though, I _could_ offer you answers to questions I’m sure he won’t give.”

“He told me,” Suga hesitated with unconcealed wariness in his eyes, as though he were about to give up the only true thing he was sure Daichi had said, “you like to manipulate other people’s emotions.”

A short, bitter laugh escaped him before he could stop it. “That’s rich coming from him. What else?”

“You were his captain. And you saved his life once,” Suga supplied.

“Mm,” Oikawa nodded, “I’m sure you have questions, don’t you?”

“I do. How long was he a pirate?”

Oikawa shrugged. “Not telling.”

Suga loudly exhaled. “What did you save him from?”

He shrugged again. “Dying.”

“Answer my question,” he said, narrowing his eyes.

Oikawa smiled, coming forward to lean on the bars of the cell. He tilted his head and made his expression as innocent as possible. “I did,” he answered, feigning confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You little-” Suga grabbed Oikawa by the collar of his shirt and pulled him against the bars. “I want to know,” he growled, “How long was he a pirate? What did you save him from? What did he do that made you hate him? And why does he _not hate you, too_? I want to know _everything_.”

Oikawa’s smile grew darker as he grabbed Suga’s wrists and pulled him closer. “You really want to know?” he asked, enjoying the conflicting looks passing over Suga’s face before it finally settled on a mix of frustration and determination. Oh, _yes_. He really did want to know and Oikawa felt a sense of satisfaction that right here and now he was the only one who could give him the full truth. “Ask me nicely, _love_ , and I might.”

“Just tell me.”

“Just ask nicely,” Oikawa replied simply. “Just one little ‘please’ is all it takes to ask.”

“ _Please_ tell me.”

“Much better,” he laughed, “but I’m afraid I can’t. I promised I wouldn’t.”

Suga rolled his eyes. “And you’ve never broken a promise, have you?”

“Not one I’ve made to Dai-chan, no.”

\--

“What did you tell Suga about us?” Daichi asked.

“Do you really think that low of me?” Oikawa replied, laying on the bed in his cell with Matsukawa on his chest, asleep. He tilted his hat up so he could look at Daichi with one open eye. He had his back to Oikawa, but that wasn’t surprising. “I made you a promise.”

“You’ve made so many promises,” he said, calmer than Oikawa would have thought, turning around. “You honestly think I’d believe that one? After everything?”

“We shouldn’t do this, Daichi,” Oikawa said quietly, dropping the hat back onto his face. “You and I both know it.”

Daichi didn’t make a noise for a while and Oikawa thought that he’d maybe _actually_ listened for once. Then he heard the rattling of keys and the creak of the door. “No, that’s just you.”

He lifted his hat up again to find Daichi entering the little cell he was being kept in. “Go away,” he growled.

“We should talk about it. You and I both know it,” he said, using Oikawa’s own words. Oikawa grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. He knew he’d agree to it eventually. Even after all that had happened, he still had a soft spot for Daichi.

“We shouldn’t and I won’t,” he replied, not bothering to sound any friendlier. “I’m perfectly content hating you for the rest of my life.”

“Life is far too short for that, Tooru,” Daichi said softly, sadly.

“Do _not_ call me that,” Oikawa nearly yelled, waking Matsukawa who leapt off him. Oikawa stood and threw his hat to the ground. “You lost that privilege when you decided to- to-” he sighed in frustration. He still wasn’t even able to say it out loud. “Just leave me alone,” he said quietly, much more vulnerable than he’d like.

“We’ll need to talk about this at some point, you know.”

“No, we won’t,” Oikawa said, all of his fiery passion from before returning. “We don’t have to talk about anything if we don’t want to. All it takes is you just leaving me alone.”

“I don’t want to talk about what happened just as much as you-”

“Really?” Oikawa asked, finally letting go of the control he had just barely been holding onto. “Tell me, do you still have a scar? An actual, physical scar? Did you lose half the men you loved as brothers? Did you nearly sacrifice yourself for the other half? Just because you trusted too quickly, too easily and made promises you weren’t even given a _chance_ to keep?!” Oikawa’s voice, instead of gaining volume, gained intensity, as it tended to do when he’s upset. There was a minor difference here though, he wasn’t upset.

He was furious.

“Oikawa, I-”

“No,” Oikawa snarled, cutting him off. “There’s nothing, _nothing_ you can say anymore to redeem yourself to me. I don’t want to talk to you about this and I never _will_ want to. I’m not that masochistic.”

“Just let me _explain_ ,” Daichi pleaded.

“You had your chance. You had it two years ago. And all you said was fucking ‘Sorry, Tooru,’” he seethed. “That’s it. Did you forget how I promised to save you? Did you forget how every person on my crew welcomed you? Did you-” Oikawa paused, not because he wanted to, but because the words got caught in his throat and he couldn’t push them out. He was shaking now, but all of his emotions were so jumbled he couldn’t tell what it was from. “Did you forget how I loved you? How-how could you just throw away everything we had like that?”

Daichi sighed, sitting down on one edge of the bed. Oikawa sat as far as he could away from him. “They didn’t give me much of a choice. It was sell you out or die on the spot. There’s no way you could have saved me from that if you had tried. I was selfish, I know. My decision cost a lot of men their lives, _I know_. But wouldn’t you have done the same? Instinct tells us to protect ourselves. You can’t honestly tell me you wouldn’t do the same.”

“Yes. I can. I would die for my crew. I trust them completely and they trust me. My only problem was ever trusting you. You backstabbing _traitor_ of a coward.”

“I made a bad decision under duress-”

“You made a fatal decision for half of my crew. It was nearly fatal for me, too. I was completely useless for a week from my wounds. Yet everyone remaining was still loyal to me. And honestly, I don’t think I deserved it after all that happened.” Oikawa closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he was completely composed. “You know, Sawamura, you really need to learn when to keep your mouth shut. It could get you in trouble some day.”

“I-”

“Get out. Don’t bother coming back to talk to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on tumblr [here](https://theprettysettersclub.tumblr.com), [here](https://nightshade002.tumblr.com), [here (with friends)](https://thewritersquad.tumblr.com), and [here (it's new)](https://ask-tooru.tumblr.com)


	6. To Death?

Oikawa didn’t allow anyone but Yachi to open the door down to the brig for nearly a week. He couldn’t completely tell with the lack of sunlight. 

“The Captain wants to talk to you,” Yachi informed him as she brought him his food.

Oikawa shrugged uncaringly. “That’s too bad. I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Oikawa-san, you can’t just ignore him.”

“Who says I can’t? I’ve been doing a pretty good job of it for a while.” Oikawa knew he was being childish, but that didn’t mean he was going to act any differently.

“I refuse to believe that you’re actually like this. My mother used to tell me stories of you, you know? She said you could heal anyone, anything. She said that you brought someone back from the edge of death. You weren’t afraid to go to the middle of a battlefield.”

“It’s illegal to kill a medic on a battlefield. I had nothing to worry about,” Oikawa said quietly.

“You and I both know that medics get caught in the crossfire anyway,” Yachi replied fiercely. “That’s not the point. In all of the stories, you weren’t the kind of person to mope over a guy. You used to be a good man, Oikawa. Strong. Fearless.”

“What’s your point?” Oikawa sighed. He wanted to argue about how good is entirely dependant on a person’s views of the world, but this didn’t seem like the time. Even if he thought he was a better man since he left the service of the royals.

“I just never thought someone like you would be afraid of confrontation.”

Oikawa finally sat up to look at Yachi, somewhat proud at her newfound ability to completely speak her mind. “I’m not afraid of it. I just… don’t want to talk with Sawamura about what happened.”

“You’re afraid you’ll forgive him, right?” Yachi guessed. That was part of it. There were a lot of parts. If he was being honest with himself, it was mostly that he was afraid that he might still have feelings for Daichi. And he was afraid of how much he would still do for him.

Oikawa looked down. “There’s nothing that could make me forgive him for what he did. There’s just… one thing I can’t heal,” he said quietly, rubbing over his chest. “I hate not being in control. That’s why I don’t want to talk to him.”

Yachi quietly entered the cell with him and sat down. Oikawa smiled when Mattsun hopped into her lap. “You were…” she struggled for the words.

“Lovers,” Oikawa finished for her. “ We were lovers. But I guess the attraction was truly only one-sided.”

“What happened between you two?”

Oikawa held his face in his hands. “I don’t want to ruin your view of your captain. It’s not my place to do that.”

Yachi stood up in front of him, forcing Mattsun to jump off her. She closed her eyes. Oikawa could honestly say that he didn’t expect her to slap him. “Stop moping! If you can’t talk to me about whatever happened, how do you expect to come to peace with this before you die!”

Her face was red as she stood in front of him, breathing hard. Oikawa put his hand up to his cheek, cradling the part that was stinging.

“Oh my god,” Yachi whimpered, all of her ferocity from just a few seconds ago gone. “Oh my god, oh my god. You’re going to die soon. I mean we’re only about a day away from land and I mean obviously I knew this beforehand but I didn’t ever stop to think about it and now it’s going to happen and you’re going to- to die.”

“Yachi-san,” Oikawa said softly, grabbing onto her hands. “Take a deep breath and tell me the process for hanging someone.”

She took a shaky breath. “W-well, they have to take you into the jail and verify that it’s y-you, which Captain Sawamura can do right away. Then it usually takes a few days before the actual hanging.”

“It’ll probably take longer for me because they want a spectacle of it, right?” Oikawa prodded. Yachi nodded. “So, what, we’ll give me anywhere between four days and a week before it’ll actually happen?” Yachi nodded again. “Your mom ever tell you about my life as a pirate? Or have you ever heard from anyone else?”

“Th-the jail is one of the most heavily guarded places. There’s no way you could escape.”

Oikawa smiled. “The thing about that is that I know all the secret passageways. I used to work in the jail. I know all I need to know to get out before my hanging.”

\--

“I have one last request before you hand me over,” Oikawa said as soon as Daichi walked in. As soon as Yachi had calmed down, she somehow convinced him to talk with Daichi.

Daichi sighed. “Of course you do. What is it?”

“Leave as soon as possible. Don’t ask why, just leave.”

“What do you plan on doing?”

Oikawa closed his eyes, resisting the urge to sigh. Daichi could be so _thick_ sometimes. “I won’t tell you that.”

“Tell me.” 

Oikawa rolled his eyes before opening them. Of course he wasn’t going to outright tell Daichi that he planned on escaping after Daichi’s part had been played perfectly. Even hating him as Oikawa did, he was still making sure nothing bad happened to him. Daichi would have to be _gone_ otherwise someone might suspect that Daichi had helped Oikawa escape. After all, everyone knows that no one can escape from the jail he’ll be put in alone. He turned his sharp gaze onto Daichi. “No. But I suppose we do need to talk about something else.”

“Oh, do we?”

He crossed his small cell to stand in front of Daichi. “I won’t ever forgive you for what you’ve done. You betrayed my trust and that’s not something I merely give away to anyone. I’m torn between wanting to know _why_ and just staying as I am, hating you.”

“You’d die hating me without hearing my side of the story?” Daichi asked.

Oikawa shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on dying any time soon.”

“We’re sending you to your death.”

Oikawa smiled. “You may be sending me there, but who’s to say I’ll actually make it.”


	7. Reunions and things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back and it's been so long but like
> 
> I was working on the oikawa challenge so please read that
> 
> (it's When I Was Yours and i spent a really long time on it and i'm proud of it)

Oikawa took a deep breath. “You remember the plan Mattsun?” Matsukawa nodded. Oikawa smiled and placed his hand gently on Matsukawa’s head. Matsukawa nuzzled into it. “Let’s hope this works, yeah? I’ll see you on land.”

Oikawa opened the door to his cell, then the door down to the brig and watched Matsukawa bound away.

“Are you finally putting your escape plan into action?” Suga asked, leaning against the wall by the door. Oikawa hadn’t even noticed his presence.

He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. You wouldn’t do anything about it anyway.”

Suga scoffed and Oikawa’s face split into a grin. “Who says I wouldn’t do anything?”

“First,” he said, confident in his ability to read Suga, “the captain has likely told you not to mess with me by now and you wouldn’t go against his orders for something like this. Second, you’re curious to see what I have planned.”

“I could tell Daichi that you’re planning to escape-” Suga tried, but Oikawa cut him off before he could finish.

“You could. He wouldn’t do anything. That I know for sure. I know him.”

Suga scoffed. “You don’t know him.”

Oikawa thought back to the time he had spent with Daichi years ago and what he’d observed in the past few days. Of course, there were some differences and he knew that he wasn’t truly providing an unbiased opinion, but the core of Daichi hadn’t changed. The core that Oikawa had fallen in love with, but had betrayed him so thoroughly. It was entirely possible that Oikawa had never actually known Daichi, but he doubted that. “I know more than you think,” he eventually said, realizing that he had been quiet for just a little too long.

\--

“I’m going to be fine, you know.” Yachi nodded, holding back tears. “You could have them all doing your bidding if you truly wanted.”

Yachi choked out a laugh. “I’m not sure-”

Oikawa put his hand on her head. “You’re the most important part of this ship. Don’t forget that without a skilled medic, they wouldn’t be able to sail.” He gave her a brief hug. “I wrote a letter for you. It’s under the blanket. Tips and things.”

“Thank you,” Yachi whispered.

Oikawa pulled back with a smile. “Remember this isn’t the end for me. I don’t intend to die any time in the near future.” Yachi nodded and he walked over to Daichi. “Ready?”

“Please don’t slip out of the cuffs this time.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied, holding out his hands. 

Daichi sighed. “You don’t dream.”

Oikawa shrugged. “Technicalities. You know it’s an expression. I won’t slip out. Promise.”

“Your promises mean nothing to me now.”

Oikawa rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t matter if they mean anything to you. Now quit stalling. I have things to do.”

“Like be hung?”

“Like start a revolution,” Oikawa answered easily. Daichi stared at him before rolling his eyes and looking away. Good. One less person to suspect him.

He was led off of the ship and into a carriage waiting for them. It was fancier than he had expected, honestly. Royal treatment for the ex-royal medic, he supposed. He knew it was better treatment than a pirate should get. Daichi and Suga entered after him and he sighed and rolled his eyes when Suga sat next to him.

“I sure hope what I think is coming isn’t actually coming,” he muttered as the carriage jerked into motion. The other two gave him looks filled with curiosity, but he simply stared out the window. It was strange to be on land once more after so long at sea. The rocking of the carriage almost simulated waves beneath his feet, but it wasn’t close enough. Already he yearned to be back on the ocean. He’d need a crew for that, though. And a ship.

“Are you actually planning on starting a revolution?” Daichi asked. Suga whipped his head up and Oikawa sighed.

“It’s no fun if you tell all my plans like that,” Oikawa pouted.

“Is that why you never told me anything?”

He narrowed his eyes. That taunt was a low blow. “Do you really think right this second is the time to bring up our history? What with where we’re going. Wouldn’t want you to get in trouble, now would we?”

Daichi huffed and sat back. Oikawa smiled because he knew that he was _right_. The smile dropped off his face when the carriage jerked to a stop.

“Time to go,” Suga said cheerily. 

They were escorted into the palace by quite frankly too many guards. If Oikawa was going to try something, he would’ve done it either getting off the ship or out of the carriage. Not in the fucking palace. The king knew that. If he didn’t, he should have.

The first words the king spoke to him were “It’s been a while.”

“Not quite long enough if you ask me,” he responded. 

“I see you still haven’t lost that spark of passion.”

“Never will, Tanji.”

If Oikawa were any closer to the king, he would’ve gotten a slap across the face for that at least. As it is, he’s only pushed to the ground and forced to kneel. It’s less than he expected. He smiled from his place on the ground. If he could get away with using the king’s given name, what else could he get away with.

“It would do you well to learn your place,” the king spat at him. Oikawa’s smile only grew. 

“I know exactly where I belong,” he said quietly, looking up at the king. The guards on either side of him held him in position on the floor, but that didn’t mean he was submissive. “And I know where you think I belong. And I know those aren’t the same thing.”

The king scowled down at him. Even though he was physically looking down at him, they were still on level playing fields for stubbornness. “Send him down to the dungeon. Make sure there’s a guard for him at all times.”

Oikawa casts one glance back at Daichi and Suga before he’s pushed through a side door.

“I can walk on my own, you know,” he grumbled. The guard on his left shoved him harder. “You don’t have to be unnecessarily rude.”

They go through at least three locked and guarded doors before finally getting to the actual dungeon part of the dungeon. They passed by a lot of petty thieves and small time criminals on their way down, but Oikawa was fairly certain that this level was mostly vacant.

“I can take him alone from here,” the guard on his left spoke up.

“Are you sure?”

The guard shrugged. “There are multiple locked doors on the way down here. All of them guarded. I think I can handle this.”

The right guard looked back and forth between Oikawa and the left guard. “Alright, but if he gets out, it’s completely on you.”

“You got it.”

The right guard gave Oikawa one last nervous glance before disappearing the way he had come. Oikawa let out a sigh of relief. “Can’t believe that actually worked,” he said, already out of his handcuffs. Matsukawa smiled and Oikawa threw his arms around him, burying his face in his chest. “It’s been a long time.”

“I missed being able to hug you,” Matsukawa murmured, holding Oikawa as though he might slip out of his grasp at any moment. Oikawa nodded in agreement and told himself that there weren’t tears welling in his eyes.

“I love you,” Oikawa whispered because it really only mattered that Matsukawa heard it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so this is the end of the first part of this! i'm just starting my winter break, so there's a possibility that part two will start soon, but no promises lmao

Unfortunately, as much as Oikawa wanted to, there was almost no way that he would be able to escape on the first night. He knew the king would come and talk to him, or at least send someone to do it in his stead. Matsukawa kept him company, though they weren’t able to do as much as Oikawa would’ve liked. They couldn’t be found out this easily. Not before they even had a chance at escaping.

He heard two knocks on the door and sat up. Someone was coming. Oikawa groaned when the door opened and he saw who it was. 

“You got caught,” Ushijima said bluntly.

“Of course, _Your Highness_. All part of the plan.”

“You should-”

Oikawa leaned back, closing his eyes and resting against the wall, “Ah, don’t start with that. You know I’m getting out of here eventually.”

“That’s not what I was going to say.”

Oikawa sat up, focusing on Ushijima. “Oh? Spit it out then.”

“You should get out tonight. King Washijou will not allow you enough time to stir up trouble.”

Oikawa stared at him, trying to figure out what his angle was. Ushijima was, as always, hard for him to read. It was one of the things that had always irritated him before he’d become a pirate, but there wasn’t usually any kind of alternative motive to Ushijima’s actions and words. But that was before. That was when they were both on the same side, not to mention that it had been a few years since they had last spoken. “Why should I believe you?”

“You know what the right decision is. Would you rather try your luck with me or the King?”

Oikawa sighed because he knew that he would take Ushijima at his word. Ushijima hadn’t ever lied to him before. In fact, he rarely ever even lied or spun the truth. “Fine. What does he want.”

Ushijima sighed, hanging his head a little bit. It was times like these that Oikawa almost wished he could have brought him with when he had left. “He wants you to renounce your piracy. To admit you were wrong when you left.”

“I’m sorry, _what_? He wants me to _what_?” Oikawa stood, doing his best to keep his voice down. The warning call of his name from in the hall from Matsukawa told him that his best wasn’t very good. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Why?”

“It will discourage those who are considering your… lifestyle. And the people, ever since you left, have been bolder than ever.”

Oikawa scoffed. “Should have guessed it was about control. That’s always what it’s about with him. He should know that’s never going to happen.”

“He believes that he will be able to convince you. I would recommend not allowing Matsukawa to go far, lest he get hurt.”

Oikawa sighed, turning away from Ushijima and putting his hands on his hips. “I think you should go,” he said quietly as he looked at the floor. “It was good to see you, but…”

Ushijima shuffled around behind him. “I understand.”

He looked over his shoulder. “You’ll make a good king someday, Wakatoshi.”

The smile was evident in Ushijima’s voice as he responded. “I would hate to have to answer to you if I weren’t.”

Oikawa couldn’t keep the small smile off of his face while Ushijima left. As much as he and Ushijima could disagree over simple principles, the few moments where they weren’t arguing were nice.

“Well?”

Oikawa turned around completely, facing Matsukawa. Ushijima had given him good information, but Oikawa still wasn’t sure that he could trust him completely. “I’m staying the night. You’re not.”

“Tooru-”

“I’ve got a plan, don’t worry. I just don’t want you to get hurt. Of anything Ushiwaka said, I know that the part about you is true. Washijou will come for you.”

“I want to stay with you,” Matsukawa argued. “I can fight for myself, you know that.”

Oikawa sighed, hanging his head. “I don’t want you to be caught. And it’s been so long since you were even human, so-”

“It’ll be fine,” he assured Oikawa. “We can still do our original plan. I’ll be careful.”

Oikawa nodded, but still Ushijima’s words had gotten to him. He still trusted Ushijima. He shouldn’t, but- “We’re moving it up a bit. We’re leaving tonight.”

“You’re sure he’s not just telling you to go tonight because there’s some sort of trap set up for when you leave?” Matsukawa asked. 

“Oh, I’m sure there will be,” he smiled, a plan forming in his mind. “I think they might be a bit too busy.”

Matsukawa smiled as well. “What do you have planned?”

“Jailbreak.”

\--

It was just after midnight when Oikawa set his plan in motion. Matsukawa knocked out the guard coming to take his place and unlocked Oikawa’s door. “You ready?”

Oikawa took a deep breath. It had been a while since he last performed a spell this large, especially something that would affect other people. He knew that he could do it, but he wasn’t sure how much of a toll the magic would have on him. “Always,” he replied, taking off his gloves. 

He crouched down to place his hands on the floor and concentrated on focusing his magic. He started murmuring the spell as he felt the magic flow out of him. It was relatively simple, just a sleep spell, but the amount of guards that it would have to affect made it more difficult. A soft glow of his magic ran through the cracks between the stones on the floor, passing the door to the hall he was in. Dull thuds could be heard as each of the guards fell. Oikawa only hoped that his magic had worked fast enough that no one would be able to raise an alarm. He couldn’t find any more guards to knock out.

A wave of dizziness washed over him as he stood. That wasn’t… ideal.

“Are you-”

“I’m fine,” Oikawa cut Matsukawa off before he could get the full question out. “Even if I wasn’t, we don’t have the time to wait.”

Matsukawa nodded and they made their way to the first of three doors that led down to Oikawa’s part of the prison. They carefully stepped over the guards and got to work unlocking doors and letting some of the prisoners go.

There were more prisoners from the next portion of the prison that they let go. Oikawa made sure that the prisoners freed hadn’t committed _terrible_ crimes. He did have morals.

All of the prisoners from the last portion were let out.

“I thought I my eyes had mistaken me earlier,” someone said from behind Oikawa as he was replacing his gloves. He turned around and smiled. “It’s been a while.”

“Kuro-chan, I didn’t think you’d ever be foolish enough to get caught,” Oikawa hummed playfully, inwardly scowling at the little bit of height Kuroo had on him. On Matsukawa, it was hot. On Kuroo, it was just plain annoying.

“I could say the same to you,” Kuroo sized up Oikawa with a quick glance. “Never thought I’d see you in here as a prisoner.”

Oikawa shrugged. “All part of the plan, really.”

Kuroo nodded, putting his hands on his hips and surveying the crowd of newly freed prisoners. “They part of the plan, too?”

“They’re mostly your men, are they not? That would be up to you.”

Kuroo grinned, obviously loving the small bit of power he got from Oikawa needing him. He brought his hand up to his mouth and whistled, instantly gaining the attention of most, if not all the rowdy men. “I’m sure you’ve all heard of Oikawa Tooru,” he started, gesturing to Oikawa, “he happens to be the one who let you all out tonight.”

“I need you to create enough commotion to cover my escape,” Oikawa chimed in while Kuroo took a pause. He could see the gears turning in the men’s heads, most trying to figure out if it would benefit themselves.

“How do we know we won’t just be thrown back in here?”

“I got you out once, didn’t I? I can do it again, but only if I can leave now. Your other choice is to just go back to sitting in your cells and waiting.”

There was a general murmur of agreement from the men in front of him. Kuroo leaned over and whispered, “I’ll meet up with you soon.”

Oikawa smiled and pointed over to the last door holding them back, unlocking it. “Go wild.”

Matsukawa rejoined him at his side as the men ran out of the door. “Which door are we going out of?”

He waited until the last of the former prisoners had left through the door before stepping into one of the cells and getting up onto the bench. It took some feeling around, he couldn’t remember which stone it was, but eventually he found the loose stone in the ceiling.

The stone slid out of the way easily and he hoisted himself up into the hole created before holding his hand out to Matsukawa.

“This close enough to a door for you?” he teased.

“I suppose it’ll do,” Matsukawa responded, taking his hand and allowing Oikawa to help pull him up. He carefully replaced the stone in the floor. “Lead the way.”

Oikawa maneuvered through the dark passageways with ease, relying mostly on muscle memory. It was too dark for either of them to actually see. It had been a long time since he had been in the maze of passageways and as so it took them a little longer than Oikawa would have liked to get to the door he wanted to leave through.

“Took you long enough,” Kuroo muttered from off to the side, not looking at him. “You don’t have a lot of time, you know.”

Oikawa sighed, “Listen, I-”

“I don’t just mean getting away so that you’re not caught again, but you should know that I don’t think they’ll just give up searching for you any time soon. They’ll look in every inch of every town even remotely nearby here; they’ll send out people ahead of time to warn people against harbouring you. You’ll never remain free if you stay here.”

Matsukawa scoffed. “Are you sure you don’t just want us out of your way?”

Kuroo shrugged. “I won’t lie, I would benefit from the two of you leaving. I would also benefit from you staying. That’s not what this is about. A week or two ago Kenma had a vision. They told me that you’d be returning and that you wouldn’t be able to stay. Something about undoing a curse. They didn’t know what curse, but they did learn that as soon as you set foot on land, some sort of countdown would start.”

“And we should just… trust that.”

“We have to,” Oikawa murmured. “Loathe as I am to just leave now, if the countdown has started we have to.”

Matsukawa looked down at him. “What countdown?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Oik-”

“ _Later_ ,” Oikawa hissed. He didn’t want to talk about it in the first place, but especially not in front of Kuroo. “Thank you, Kuroo.”

“Of course,” Kuroo smiled, “I’m sure you’ll remember this later.”

“Right.”

Oikawa didn’t bother to say anything more to Kuroo before leaving, Matsukawa at his side. It didn’t take long before they had been spotted by soldiers.

“We should split up, make it harder for them to catch us,” Matsukawa suggested, somewhat out of breath from running. 

Oikawa shook his head. “They’ll have too many looking for us. We’re better together. And I don’t want to lose you. Not now, not right after I’ve got you back.”

They made their way through the town, eventually losing the group of soldiers that had been following them only to be spotted by another group. Oikawa cursed their luck. He should have just gone with the original plan. 

The gates at all the main roads had been closed off, but Oikawa knew other ways out. Matsukawa followed him as he climbed one of the walls surrounding the castle town. There were, of course, more soldiers at the top of the wall, but it was simple for the two of them to beat back the soldiers. 

“It’s been too long,” Matsukawa sighed after they climbed down the other side of the wall. 

“What, you miss beating people up?” Oikawa teased. 

Matsukawa huffed out a little laugh. “I miss being human.”

“I miss you, too,” he replied softly, taking Matsukawa’s hand in his. “You were a cute otter, but that’s definitely not the same.”

“So where to now?” 

Oikawa shrugged, glancing into the forest adjacent to the wall. “Not sure, but I have a good feeling about in there.”

“Let’s go, then,” Matsukawa suggested, tugging Oikawa along by the hand he was still holding.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @theprettysettersclub  
> i'm also part of @thewritersquad on tumblr


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